Pandora's box
by Dragons are real2
Summary: When a strange box falls into the Titans' possession, they find themselves on a disturbing journey down memory lane. DISCLAIMER: I, Dragons are real2, do not own Teen Titans. I regret this very much.
1. Chapter 1

It was a perfect summer day in Jump City. The song danced in the sky with the clouds circling it in a grand production of light. The Titans were all sitting round a threadbare picnic mat on the beach. Raven was sitting with her face buried in a large book, her legs sticking out in front of her, Starfire was drinking mustard straight from the bottle with a bright expression on her face, Beast Boy was scoffing a Tofu burger with hot sauce. Robin was standing a couple of meters off punching thin air with his face lined with hard determination, as if he was carved In stone and Cyborg was munching politely on his double beef-and-cheese burger and shooting disgusted glances in the direction of the tofu burger in the changeling's hand.

"Friends," said Starfire, breaking the blissful silence, "could we take a ride on the water vehicle? I have never experienced the earthly joys of riding on the water in such a strange looking vessel."

All eyes turned to her. Starfire looked hopefully at her companions. "Please?" she added for good measure.

Cyborg and Robin looked at each other.

"Actually, Star, that's not such a bad idea. Come on team!" Robin ordered in his demanding fashion. The team obediently stood up and started toward the harbor where the boats were. All except Beast Boy.

"Uh… I'd rather not. You guys go ahead." He waved his hand in a dismissive tone and proceeded to open a comic book that lay a couple of feet away. His team mated stared.

"Beast boy, would you not like to ride on the water vessel with us?" asked Starfire, disappointed.

"Naw, I don't like boats."

Cyborg's eyes suddenly narrowed and his human half of his face pulled into a smirk.

"Beast Boy's scared of boats," he said slowly, tapping his metallic fingers together.

"Am not!" Beast Boy pouted in a childish fashion.

"OH NO! Oh mummy please! The nasty boat is going to kidnap me! Oh HELP!" Cyborg squealed in a high-pitched voice and dramatically slapped the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically and stood on one tiptoe. Beast boy scowled savagely.

"SHUDDUP AND LEAVE ME ALONE YOU BIG METAL RUBBISH BIN! I. DON"T. LIKE. BOATS. OK? JUST GET OUT OF MY FACE!"

And with that furious outburst, he turned on is heel and marched off in the opposite direction, leaving his team mates standing shocked and rocking on their feet. Except Raven, of course, who was still reading her book intently.

Just then, a buzz was heard. The remaining titans pulled their communicators out of their pockets.

"It's the H.I.V.E. Down by the museum," Robin reported. "Apparently trying to steal some ancient artifact. A box by the looks of it. TITANS GO!"

The Titans flew/ran to the sight of the crime. Beast Boy still had not turned up. They decided to let it go for now. He was obviously affected by something. But when they arrived, the police had already cuffed the Villains. And beast Boy was standing there talking to the police officer with his hand stuffed into his pocket and the other holding a small, wooden and mother-of-pearl engraved box.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire cried before imprisoning him in a bone-crushing hug. Beast Boy turned a nasty shade of reddish green before Starfire finally released him and he sucked in the largest breath of his life.

"Uh…" he mumbled throatily, "I defeated the H.I.V.E and I got the box they were stealing." He waved said box in the air to prove his point. Raven noticed his eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying. She didn't push the matter. With that, he shoved the box between his teeth, shifted into an eagle and flew off in the direction of the Titans tower.

…..

Back at the Tower, the four Titans found Beast Boy sitting at the table turning the box over and over in his rough hands.

"What do you think it is?" he asked. There was no more sign of him crying now.

"I don't know." Answered Robin, taking the box into his own hands. "I wonder what's inside it?" Robin looked at the box for a moment before fiddling with the small brass clasp at the front. He flicked it open. "Huh. Nothing seems to…. AAAAAARGH!" he screamed as he felt a sharp pain just above his navel and he felt the sensation of being pulled. He was being pulled into the box. The Titans screamed in responding horror (Except Raven, who merely looked up from her book with an faint expression of shock for a moment). Then the Titans felt a sharp pain above their own navels and screamed for themselves. Raven dropped her book. They were pulled into the box, and the whole world swirled in their vision.

Al they saw was black.

Then they heard a scream. Not a frightened scream. It was excited screaming. The screaming of a large audience. Blinking rapidly, they looked around them.

They were in a large fairground. The vision was darkened slightly, as if they were looking through a translucent filter. Robin was already on his feet looking toward a huge red and yellow circus tent. They were shocked to see his face. His face showed a look of absolute horror and fear and… Hurt.

"Cool! A circus!" Beast boy cried like a small child in a sweet store.

"Yeah! Lets go check it out!" Cyborg punched the air in excitement.

"NO!" Screeched Robin, his face frantic.

"Aw c'mon Robin! You're not scared of a stupid circus are you? Or is it the clowns?"

Something flashed in Raven's memory. She couldn't put her finger on it but she knew that Robin hated circuses for something more than just a fear of clowns.

"Maybe we should just respect Robin's wishes. After all, don't you think it's strange that one moment we're in the kitchen and the next we are in some random fair ground?"

Robin gave Raven a grateful glance and Raven smiled back encouragingly in response. Unfortunately, Cyborg and Beast Boy had other ideas.

Cyborg lifted Robin up around the waist and slung him over one shoulder in a fluid motion. Robin kicked in protest and demanded to be put down no I really mean it right now or… or… else. But Cyborg merely walked through the front entrance flap to the tent silently. Starfire followed. Raven stared at Beat Boy. He grinned back.

"Come on Rae. We're gonna miss it if you don't hurry up!" and he grabbed her round the wrist before she could protest and pulled her through the tent flap. The circus was alive with wild screams from the multi-colored crowd. Several ropes and swings hung from the ceiling like a web created by a drunken spider. Cyborg was already sitting in his seat with his arms folded and his foot impatiently waggling up and down. Starfire was sitting gracefully in the seat next to him and next to her, sat a sweating Robin. Shadows of his eyes could be seen darting around frantically through his mask. He was clenching his teeth so much it hurt and his hands were gripping his armrests until his knuckled turned white.

He obviously really didn't like circuses.

Raven nestled into the chair beside him and sat as still as if she was a perfect marble statue. Beast Boy sat next to her, anticipation lighting in his eyes. Right now, in the middle of the ring, an elephant marched past painted with bright colors much to the crowd's appreciation. They clapped till their hands hurt. A tight ropewalker flitted across a thin rope with the grace of a fairy and the light jumpiness of a gazelle, her tutu flapping around her waist like a halo of shimmering pink sparkle.

A petite girl with a popcorn tray walked past. Cyborg put up his hand to get her attention but she ignored him as if he were not there. He stared after her in indignant disbelief.

A groan was heard from in front of them.

The team looked into the row in front of them. They were one row from the front. In front of them, a small skinny boy of about 9 years old with tousled jet-black hair and an extremely pale complexion turned in his chair. He wore baggy jeans and a green t-shirt. He had the greenest eyes. It was as if all the greens of the world had been concentrated into that one green to create a piercing, dazzling bright green.

On either side of the boy, the short, fat ringmaster and his pretty, slender partner sat watching the show with proud looks in their own eyes.

A woman with jet-black hair wearing a shimmering crop top with a matching mini skirt and a large feather in her hair bent down to kiss the boy on the forehead.

"You get to watch our show again you lucky boy," she chuckled as she ruffled his hair.

"Mom, I've watched your show twenty times already," the boy groaned in a bored way while rolling his eyes and pouting.

"I know my sweet little robin."

"My name is Richard."

"I know dear but to me you are always my sweet little Robin. I love you with all my heart."

Robin's grip on the armrests tightened, causing his knuckles to crack and bleed.

"Love you too Mom. Just get on with it. Dad is waiting over there." The boy waved in the general direction of the stage.

The woman chuckled again and waltzed off toward the stage to the great cheering of the crowd. She jumped into the air and was immediately caught by two strong hands of another man with jet-black hair and a yellow, red and green costume.

They swung back and forth and flew through the air from rope to rope like a pair of monkeys. They flipped and summersaulted all over the place. The stage was clear and the crowd gave oohs and aahs in response.

The woman jumped, ready to be grabbed by her partner again. She gripped his hands.

SNAP!

A loud sound echoed through the air and the rope broke. Suddenly putting her finger on the memory she remembered. This wasn't any old circus. This had happened before. This was Robin's memory.

She looked at him in panic and saw he was crying from behind his mask. Endless streams of tears flowed down his cheeks. The other titans stared in distress at the screaming figures as they fell through the air.

With a sickening crunch, they landed in a splat. A pool of crimson blood spread out around them. The boy called Richard jumped up and struggled to get to his now crushed parents. The ringmaster pulled him back but his own face was pasted with sorrow. Kicking and screaming, Richard fought his way out of the ringleader's grip and jumped up onto the stage.

"MOM! DAD!"

He flung himself down next to the mangled corpses and desperately tried scooping the blood back into their bodies, as if he could bring them back to life by doing so. He just succeeded in staining his own hands red. His jeans soaked up the blood but he did not care. Shivering in defeat, he let his hands fall limply to his sides and he cried. He wailed into the shocked silence of the tent.

He cried for his dead parents.

The Titans looked at the crying Robin, then at Richard. They looked back at Robin.

"That… That boy… That's you…?" Beast boy stuttered slowly, having put the pieces together.

Robin just nodded, biting his lip so fiercely he drew blood.

The scene flashed before their eyes and the titans found themselves in a brick walled building that looked like a reception area.

"What is this place, please?" asked Starfire, still shaken by the horrific scene she had just witnessed.

"The orphanage," mumbled Robin. He was still shivering. It was strange for the Titans to see their leader so vulnerable. "I stayed here for a year before Batman took me in."

Just as he said that, a tall muscular man with a sharp suit strolled in. He had an air of mystery about him.

"I'm here for the boy," he said simply to the blonde woman behind the desk. She briefly glanced at him before squawking up the staircase; "Richard Grayson come down now with your bags!"

A clopping sound was heard from the direction of the stairs and a 10-year-old Robin emerged. He looked serious and depressed. In his hand, he held a small black suitcase.

"Hello Dick," The tall man greeted him, "I am Bruce Wayne."


	2. Chapter 2

The scene flashed before their eyes again and the team fell with a heavy thud to the ground. Shaking their weary heads, The Titans stood up. They were in a place like they had never seen before, yet it was so familiar. The buildings were rounded and purple; the fields green with majestic mountains of dark maroon surrounding them. They were sitting in a large meadow behind what looked like a castle made from liquorish-black stone.

"Tameran," whispered Starfire, getting slowly to her feet. Her eyes lit up with joy. "Friends! I am home!" Cried the girl, twirling three summersaults in the air.

"O…K…. This is weird. One minute we're in some orphanage and the next we're on Tameran?" Beast Boy said, rubbing his head.

"Cyborg," Raven addressed the cybernetic teenager in her usual monotone, "do you think you could show us a scan of the box from your memory file?"

"Uh I think so. Wait.. Gimme a min…" Cyborg placed his forefinger to his temple and pressed a few times. "No… No… Oh! Heh heh… Definitely not that one… Ah! Got it." He promptly opened a compartment in is left arm and a blue holographic image of the box appeared in front of the team.

"Hm," smiled Raven humorlessly, "This isn't any box. It's a Zanorthian Cistam."

All the titans looked confused, except Starfire, who gave a small gasp. Raven just rolled her eyes.

"Uh… Say what now?" Beast boy asked quizzically.

"It's a Zanorthian Cistam. Kind of like Pandora's box"

"Not helping."

Raven groaned and looked at the heavens.

"When opened, it shows the most painful moments from the pasts of everyone within 2 meters of it. That does not necessarily mean it is the memories of that person but it could be moments that made us who we are. Some of them we could not even know about. We cannot interact with anyone from these pictures as they are just visions of the past. Most of the images we see in here can be so distressing to the person it is about that it can lead them into madness. In some cases, suicide."

All the Titans looked thoroughly shocked. Except Raven of course, who looked utterly unperturbed.

"What if we… he he… don't want the others to see our past?" laughed Beast Boy without humor.

"Tough," shrugged Raven

"So how do we get out?" queried Cyborg nervously.

"We can't," replied Raven, "We have to wait until all the visions are over. That's why you must never on no accounts whatsoever open the box."

"SO WHY ARE YA JUST TELLIN' US THIS NOW WOMAN?" Cyborg screamed at the nonchalant empath standing next to him.

"I was reading."

Cyborg and Beast Boy rolled their eyes in a similar fashion to Raven and turned to look at their surroundings.

"Friends," said Starfire suddenly in an agitated whisper, "I believe I know what vision we are seeing."

The Titans turned to look at the scene Starfire was looking at.

Three young children were standing about ten meters apart from one another in a triangle. The oldest looking one was a girl of about twelve years with long straight black hair and a pale face. The second eldest was a girl of about eight with wavy shoulder length red hair. The last was a cheeky looking boy of about five years with curly dark red hair.

"Hey Star? Is this your memory?" asked Beast Boy.

"Yes," whispered Starfire, eyes glued to the three children.

"So is that girl with the red hair you?"

"Yes."

"How come we can understand them then?"

"I believe it is from my point of view."

His eyes turned back to the three children.

"Blackfire, catch!" the child Starfire shouted at the black-haired girl. She smacked her hands together. Slowly, she pulled them back apart. In between them, a glowing pea-green orb formed growing bigger as her hands grew farther apart. With a screech, she pushed her hands forward and the ball of green light was flung at a hundred miles an hour toward Blackfire (Black haired girl). It hit her squarely in the stomach and she was thrown back several meters.

The Titans held their breath but Blackfire looked up laughing hysterically. She jumped up and promptly flung the orb at the young boy shouting

"WILDFIRE, CATCH!"

The boy caught it expertly between two forefingers with a smug grin on his face.

"I win again!" he gloated. "Boys are better than girls! Boys are better than- AAAAAAARGH!"

A loud booming sound cut him off and a mushroom of smoke billowed into the air. Cackling fire burst out all around them. They all looked up and saw a huge swarm of Tameranean warriors clad in strong bronze armor clouding the skies. More booms were heard all around and soon the cheerful scene crumbled into one of destruction and fire.

The Titans scrambled up and ran as fast as possible in the other direction.

"Starfire!" puffed Robin as he dodged a bloody corpse with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"This is the Tameranian war between Tameran and the guardians of the evil Glorzarg." The princess replied tearfully.

The titans kept running for all they were worth. BONK! An invisible force that caused them to fall heavily backwards against the bloody grass stopped them.

"Owww! Why can't we get out of here?" squealed Beast Boy rubbing his nose.

"Oh yeah. We can't go more than 10 meters away from the scene. We have to stay watching it happen. If we try to escape, we hit an invisible force field," Raven answered him, again, in monotone.

"Sorry Star. We'll have to stay here."

Starfire hung her head and looked up to the younger duplicate of herself and her siblings. Just then, a 2meter tall scaly figure swooped down and grabbed Wildfire under his arms before flying upward. Another scaly alien swooped down and grabbed the screaming eight-year-old Starfire right into the air.

Blackfire stood transfixed in fear below them.

"Blackfire!" Starfire Jr. screamed. "Help us!"

"I can't!" Cried Blackfire helplessly.

Wildfire was struggling and wriggling so much that the grip on his torso loosened. He turned his head and bit the Guardian who held him on the hand. With a yowl, the Guardian dropped him and Wildfire plunged to the ground.

"WILDFIRE!" Blackfire and Starfire screamed after the falling figure of their brother.

The Titans stood bellow the scene feeling sick again. Around them, bodies rained down with scarlet blood.

"Why can't he fly?" Beast boy asked frantically.

"He is not happy. He does not feel enough of the happiness. I do not wish to look." The Tameranian princess whimpered, tears cascading down her tanned cheeks. She looked at the floor, scrunching her eyes tight.

A sudden flash blurred their vision again and the Teenagers found themselves in what looked like a prison with a series of prison cells. It smelled like rotting flesh and the ceiling dripped with damp. The dark cells were small and low wails emerged from them. It was eerie.

The door on the far side of the corridor burst open to reveal a struggling Starfire in the grip of a Guardian.

"Let me GO!" She kicked at her capturer, her hair flying wildly around her face and her eyes glowing pure acid green.

The Titans followed the couple down the corridor and down a series of dingy dark corridors that led off each other. The Guardian paused outside a particularly dismal, isolated cell. It was completely silent.

The Guardian chucked the girl into the cell. Only then did the team notice two large balls of heavy metal attached to each ankle but a hard chain that dug into her ankles making them bleed. She was in nothing but her underwear.

The real Starfire turned her face away from the team in embarrassment.

The door slammed behind them without warning. They watched with pitied expressions on their face at the small whimpering girl sitting shivering on the floor with nothing but her glowing, tear filled eyes lighting up through the choking darkness that strangled her.

Growling with determination, she tried to fly upward but the boulders of metal weight her down. Noticing that it was hopeless, she sank down into the corner and clutched her knees. She cried. She cried so hard that the on-looking Titans wanted to cry with her.

A crack of light flooded the cell.

"You have a visitor princess," came the heavy voice of a Guardian.

Starfire looked up in shock. She gasped.

The Titans looked up and gasped as well.

There, in the doorway, was Blackfire, with a cold expression on her face. Starfire looked at her in confusion.

"Blackfire… Why are you not tied up? Are you here to take me away?" She choked out.

"No. I have joined Glorzarg. He offered me the largest kingdom in the world and I intend to take it. Farewell sister dear."

"No! Blackfire! Please!"

"I must." Then, to everyone's surprise, her face turned soft and regretful.

"I am sorry Starfire. It is the only way I may stay alive." With that, she turned on her heel and closed the door swiftly shut behind her, leaving Starfire screaming into the darkness.

**Hey peeps! Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments! I know this chapter is short but more is to come… Woo… Mysterious… **


	3. Chapter 3

The scene flashed again.

The Titans looked at Starfire and saw her crying uncontrollably. Without a word, Robin pulled her hands down from her face and pulled her into a fierce hug. She fell into his arms and sniffed.

"Thank you Robin." She said as she pulled away and rubbed her nose on her arm.

"Any time Star."

The scene stopped flashing and the team looked around again.

They were sitting in a booth in a nightclub bar along with five other squealing girls who looked around 18.

They all wore tight skimpy dresses that showed off every inch of their figure.

Directly across the table from them sat a girl who was throwing down several shots and giggling with her friends.

The Titans stared at the girl with their mouths hanging open.

There sat… Raven?

"Woah… Raven… Is that YOU?" Cyborg coughed, as he eyed the girl-who-he-thought-was-Raven laughing raucously in her tiny black dress and masses of makeup.

"No. THAT is my mother," Raven replied, blinking as if she did not quite comprehend what was gong on.

The titans all turned their heads to her.

"THAT'S your MOTHER?" Beast boy gasped, his voice a few octaves higher than normal. They had all assumed that Raven's mother was a mature, regular, strict mother who meditated all the time and hardly ever was not annoyed at something or other. A bit like Raven. "How old was she when she had you?"

"15 going on 16."

"FIFTEEN?"

"She looks about 18 there though." Pointed out Robin.

"She faked her ID and stuffed her bra. Then she flirted with the bouncer until he let her in."

"How do you know this?" asked Starfire. Surely no one would reveal such rebellious behavior to anyone willingly.

"I am an Empath. I read her mind."

So she DIDN'T reveal it willingly.

They turned as they heard one of the girls at the booth talk.

"Hey Arella," one of the girls with pin-straight blonde hair and too much mascara addressed Raven's mother as she leaned across the table. "That hot guy over there keeps looking at you. I think he likes you!"

Arella turned toward the direction of the young man who her friend was indicating. He was indeed, looking at her.

"He is a total HOTTIE. Just look at his muscles." The girls giggled sickeningly.

He was rather handsome.

"I'll talk to him," Arella decided and she got up confidently and sashayed over to the man.

"Hey."

She flicked her hair cutely and batted her long eyelashes at him.

Raven looked mildly disgusted.

"Hi," replied the man, giving her a crooked smile.

"What's your name?" Arella asked him.

"Trigon."

The Titans gasped in disbelief and looked at Raven. She looked slightly angry.

"Well, Trigon, why don't you and I ditch this hole and hang about somewhere else?" Arella purred looking at Trigon smolderingly.

The scene flashed for the millionth time and the Titans found themselves in a bedroom. Arella and Trigon stood in the corner sucking face. Rave looked utterly disgusted now. "I don't particularly want to see this."

The Titans all turned their shocked faces to see Raven looking a bit faint.

Nodding with understanding they turned away.

From the hallway they could hear the scene unfolding.

"Stop…" mumbled Arella.

Trigon became suddenly angry.

"Stop? How DARE you say stop to me filthy human?!"

"Who… Who are you?

The Titans took a peek over their shoulder. Tingon's skin had turned blood red. His teeth sharpened. His hair turned white.

"I am the mighty Trigon of the underworld and you are my slave! YOU ARE MINE NOW! You, foolish human will be the carrier of my spawn, who will grow up to destroy your precious little planet and reign havoc on the entire universe. AND YOU CAN YOU NOTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE I HAVE CONTROL OVER YOU!"

Arella screamed.

The scene flashed again to show a small bathroom. The room was completely white. On the toilet lid sat a crying Arella. She was holding a pregnancy test in one hand.

It read POSITIVE.

The scene flashed again. Arella was crying again but now she was in an alleyway. Dumpsters overflowing with rancid rubbish blocked her from view from the outside. In her hand she held a silver knife. With a shaking hand, she lifted the knife to her wrist.

The blue vein pulsed behind her paper-white skin.

Another flash of white light. The Titans thought the scene was changing again but instead, a young slender woman in a white robe floated down like an angel toward the weeping girl lying on the floor.

"What are you doing child?" asked the figure. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Arella's hand and they disappeared in a flash.

The scene flashed again.

The Titans were now on another strange planet. Everyone wore cloaks of different bright hues, several portals of swirling color dotted the scene. A bright pinky orange sun hung in a turquoise-green sky overhead like a burning chandelier. The buildings were all tall skyscrapers with pointed tops. All of them were dark blue, but the whole city was flooded with light and warmth.

They heard a groan from behind them. They whipped round and only then did they realize they had been looking out a large panel of glass that made up a whole wall. The room was painted dark blue. The bed was royal blue. A huge bookshelf with withering books covered a whole side of the room.

Basically, it looked like Raven's room back at the tower.

Sitting on the bed was a little girl who looked about 7. She had cute, jaw length tousled indigo hair with a little curl at the bottom; she wore a navy leotard with a gold belt. The belt had chunky rubies encrusted on the surface. A dark blue cloak lay on the bed next to her.

Her skin was pale grey, her cheeks rosy red. She looked childishly frustrated.

A young Raven was sitting on the bed.

"Azar, I don't want to practice. I can control my powers FINE," grumbled young Raven. The woman who had found Arella in the alleyway looked at her with a patient yet vaguely amused look in her eyes.

"You have to practice dear, or you will lose control. That's why you can't show emotion."

Little Raven huffed and crossed her arms dramatically, pouting. Then her face broke into a bright smile.

"We're going out?" She gushed.

"I forgot you could read thoughts," mumbled Azar, shaking her head. "Yes we are, just as soon as you are finished."

Little Raven jumped up and hugged Azar around her waist.

"Oh Azar thank you!"

Beast Boy turned to the real Raven. Her face was blank, but she was rubbing her temples as if in pain.

"It's weird seeing you so excited to go out," he mused. "You usually can't stand leaving your room."

"Well," said Raven through gritted teeth, "How would you feel about going out if you had literally never left your room in your entire life and the only person you ever saw was your mentor and a couple of guards?"

"You never went out of your room? Then how did you, like, go to the toilet and stuff?"

Trust Beast boy to ask such childish, toilet-related questions

"I wasn't allowed out of my room. I was told it was for my own good but really it was to protect others from me. I had my food brought to me by Azar and Azaretheans don't need the toilet like humans do."

"Then what do you spend all that time doing in the bathroom?"

"Unlike you, I have personal hygiene. It's just that Azar used a cleanliness spell to clean me. Unfortunately, she never taught me it."

Beast Boy turned his head back to little Raven to find that they were now in a street.

Surrounding them was a ring of heavily armed guards all marching in unison with their crossbows facing the center of the circle they created.

In the center, was a skipping young Raven and a calm Azar.

"Where are we going Azar?"

"You will find out soon enough."

"Why do I have to have a load of guards pointing their arrows at me?" asked little Raven, suddenly confused.

"They are to protect you from outsiders," Azar replied, "They can only point outwards if someone attacks you though."

"Oh."

The scene flashed again and the Titans found themselves in a corridor. This one was bright and light, and only one door seemed to be in it.

"You have to go inside by yourself." Azar told the little Raven.

"What is in there?" asked Raven.

"Your mother."

Little Raven gasped.

"I didn't even know I had a mother. I thought I only had you!" cried little Raven, her violet eyes widening.

"Well you do."

"Wow. I have a mother."

"And I'm the stupid one?" scoffed Beast Boy.

"Shut it," replied real Raven.

Little Raven opened the door, taking in a deep breath.

The room was completely bare, save for a little wooden chair right in the middle. A guard with a crossbow stood in each corner.

On the chair sat a slightly older looking Arella.

She hadn't changed much, except her hair was longer and her face was thinner. She wore a plain white cloak that she pulled tightly around her shoulders.

As little Raven walked into the room, Arella's eyes grew wider in fear.

"Are you really my mother?" whispered little Raven as she walked cautiously toward Arella.

Arella said nothing but her eyes darted to the door in panic.

"What's wrong?" asked little Raven, confused again. She reached out a little hand. Arella flinched away from it.

"Get away from me!" she shouted.

Cold realization slapped little Raven around her face.

"You're scared of me." Her voice cracked. Tears welled in her eyes and she ran away from her mother and flung herself out the door.

"Azar I want to go home."

"What's wrong?" asked the mentor.

"I just want to go home NOW!" Raven cried, tears now pouring down her face in hot torrents.

As they walked down the streets, Raven was not skipping anymore. Her hood was pulled up so her face was hidden.

A group of rowdy young boys in red cloaks shouted out to her.

"Yo girl, why do you need a whole army to help you through the streets? Scared you're gunner fall over?" They burst into raucous laughter.

"Yeah, why do you have to be so creepy?"

"Creep!"

Little Raven sped up, her eyes not abandoning the floor for one second.

The scene flashed again.

Little Raven was sitting on her bed, crying hysterically into her hands. Her thin chest heaved with sobs.

Several strange objects were flying round the room like a mad swarm of locusts, all encased in a black energy. They swirled round her and exploded in puffs of black smoke sending debris flying all over the place.

The real Raven, standing a few feet away had her hood shielding her wet face, for she was crying as well.

A gentle knock echoed through the room.

Azar stepped in gingerly.

"Raven you have to stop!" She cried as she took in the scene.

"MY MOTHER H-H-HATES ME!" She cried back. "YOU LIED! YOU SAID THE GUARDS ARE FOR MY PROTECTION BUT THEY'RE TO PROTECT THE OUTSIDERS FROM ME ISN'T IT?"

Azar said nothing.

"ISN'T IT?" The snotty Raven demanded.

Slowly, Azar nodded.

Little Raven screamed and clutched her chest. A red glow erupted from her and she fell backwards unconscious.

Little Raven stood on an elevated platform of dark, red rock. Around the platform, lava rumbled and splashed like a yapping, hungry, blazing dog.

The Titans stood behind her and gasped. Out of the lava emerged a red giant. His hair was flaming white, his teeth long swords, encrusted with blood. His skin deep scarlet.

Trigon rose up from the lava and faced little Raven with fiery eyes.

"Hello spawn," he boomed, "I am glad we finally meet."

"Who-who are you?" stuttered Little Raven.

"I," he growled, "am your father!"

"No! You are not my father! I have no Father!"

From behind Little Raven, the Titans were all staring open mouthed at the real Raven standing a few feet from them.

"You did not know you had the mother or the father?" asked Starfire.

"The only person that ever interacted with me was Azar."

Starfire noticed the thickness in her voice.

"Raven," she started softly, "are you doing the crying?"

"No," Raven snapped and turned away from the scene, stubbornly rubbing her eyes.

The scene flashed and they were suddenly in the bedroom again, Raven still unconscious on the floor.

Little Raven groaned and lifted her head. Azar was kneeling beside her.

"Azar?" she groaned caressing her own weak head.

"Raven. You have to stop feeling emotion. If you don't stop it will spread to the city and cause destruction there."

"WHAT?"

A bottle exploded behind Little Raven.

The titans gasped as a shard of glass shot toward Azar and plunged into her chest.

Azar's hands flew to her chest, eyes bulging. She keeled over with a final intake of breath…

And died.

Beast Boy stared. Robin shivered. Cyborg turned a nasty shade of green. Starfire slapped her hands to her mouth. Raven shook in effort to prevent herself from screaming out.

Little Raven jumped up and grabbed her mentor's shoulders.

"Azar." She shook her desperately. "AZAR WAKE UP!" Tears streaming down her face, Little Raven pulled Azar to her chest and cried bitterly. "Please. Please don't go…"

The scene flashed again.

Raven was chanting a spell. It sounded like the soft, sweet singing of a bird. In front of her, a little oval of glass molded out of thin air. Surrounding the glass, silver liquid flowed over the edges and set to create and intricate silver frame with a handle dripping down from the bottom. The pattern was a series of small ravens circling the edge with a willow tree on the handle.

Raven's Nevermore mirror.

"I didn't know you made that mirror," mumbled Beast Boy.

Raven didn't answer.

The younger Raven placed a finger to her temple and drew out what at first seemed like long black hair. But they saw it was neither liquid, nor gas.

She put the strange substance into the mirror. The mirror glowed and flashed. Raven was sent flying back and hit her head against the wall. She was knocked out.

The scene flashed again.

"Lady Raven, the elders have come to a conclusion."

Another guard stood in front of young Raven, who looked blankly up at him.

"They're sending me away to Earth aren't they?" She asked, no emotion in her words.

"It's the most stable planet we have found for you to go to. Trigon will struggle to find you there as there are no magical beings there, or at least very few." He replied.

Young Raven sighed.

"So I can't be sent anywhere else then? Like Yingordia? Or Tameran?" Raven huffed.

"The Yingordians are still at war with Glorzarg of the Gordanians, and Tameran has no known living ruler. Both princesses have gone missing, probably trapped in the citadel, the prince died and so have the king and queen. All that is left is the Princesses Guardian, Sir Galfore. They are still a war torn nation."

The scene flashed.

"I'm gonna throw up if my bloody vision flashes like that again." Beast boy grumbled.

Raven was packing a load of possessions into a small, velvet purse on a string. The Titans watched in awe as she stuffed a whole pile of books, the mirror, several cloaks and a few leotards into the tiny purse.

"Interior enlargement spell," mumbled the real Raven as the young Raven tied the bag round her skinny waist and flew into the pitch-black darkness of the sky above.

The Titans were shocked to see that they were now back in Jump City. In an Alleyway. The younger Raven was scratching through bins. She drew out a half moldy sandwich. When she turned, the Titans noticed bags under her eyes. She looked about 12. She knelt down and lay on a small heap of newspaper in the corner of the Alleyway.

She was crying hysterically again while she gripped her pitiful supper.

Real Raven turned away in embarrassment.

The scene flashed again.

They were in Raven's room at the tower. They could just make out Beast Boy's voice through the door.

"Why do you have to be so creepy?"

Beast Boy (The real one) visibly flinched at his own harsh words.

The scene flashed.

They were still in Raven's room but the whole place was a scene of destruction. Raven was towering over the bed, black tentacles of energy emerging from the bottom of her cloak. She was screaming obscenities and tearing her room apart. 4 read eyes glowed from under her hood.

Her bed was a splintery mess. Three of the posts were scratched and torn, and the fourth had collapsed.

Books littered the floor.

Raven's furious duplicate scooped them up and tore them to pieces, giving herself tiny paper cuts in the process. But she kept tearing the books, and more blood kept cascading down her arms.

They looked up at the furious Raven monster and saw that from her red eyes, hot, angry tears ran. They mingled with the blood.

"When was this?" Robin asked in a cautious whisper.

"When Malchior betrayed me." Real Raven replied bitterly. "When he did that to me, I lost control. I genuinely don't remember what I do when I lose control because I black out. All I remember was waking up and my room was destroyed." She was obviously disgusted at herself.

The scene flashed again.

What came next completely shocked them.

**Hello everyone! This is the new chapter. Ended on a cliffy there… Exciting. Hope you liked it! Please re****view. All review are much appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AAAAAAAARGH! INCOMING NEW CHAPTER! CRASH! **

They were suddenly in a huge, barren safari scene. Yellow, cracked ground covered the surface of the earth and tufts of green grass sprouted between them.

Further on, they could see lush green fields. Herds of gazelles hopped past. A giraffe kissed the sun with its coal-black tongue. Buffaloes grazed in huge black clumps.

To their right, a towering forest stood still, guarding the exotic animals that flew around in them from sight.

"Africa…" Beast Boy gasped. He had a strange dazed look on his face.

He promptly got up and stumbled toward a pile of sticks in the distance.

"Yo BB! Wait up!" Cried Cyborg running after him. The girls flew overhead and Robin trailed behind, taking in the picturesque atmosphere.

On closer inspection, the pile of sticks turned out to be a small hut made from a wall of thin twigs that stuck up out of the ground. The hut had no roof. From the bird's eye view the girls had, they could see that the hut was actually 4 small huts connected by short corridors of more sticks. There was one large circular hut with three more circular slightly smaller huts around the top in a paw shape.

They zoomed down into the hut and landed in the largest room. Cyborg and Robin were already there.

They stood in a room about three meters wide. It was filled with advanced technology and machinery. Several test tubes stood in rack and gave off a strange green gas.

The Titans proceeded to the next room.

Beast boy was already in the room, the dazed expression still lighting his face.

A petite brunette woman sat in the middle in front of a soft fire, cooking a small steak in a copper beaten pan.

She had a pale face, lightly dusted with freckles and a bright smile.

She flipped over the steak.

"Morning Marie."

The team turned their heads to see a tall, handsome, slightly gangly man with windswept blonde hair and a tanned face walk up to the woman. He had piercing blue eyes, yet they were warm and happy. He bent down and pecked her on the cheek.

"Morning Mark."

"I do not understand," said Starfire. "Why do we see this couple? Are they related to our histories?"

Nobody answered.

"Ugh."

They turned their heads again and saw a little boy of about 6 years walk through the door.

"Morning Garfield!" greeted Marie brightly.

Garfield was gangly and tall like his father. He had bright, mischievous blue eyes and a tanned face. His sleep-tousled blonde hair was messy and stood up in odd angles.

Marie ran her fingers through his hair, flattening it out.

"Hey Grass stain," laughed Cyborg, "That kid kinda looks like you! Except he's not green of course."

"That's cuz that kid IS me," he replied, not taking his eyes off the little family.

The Titan's mouths hit the floor.

"Ooooh Beast Boy you are the cutest!" Starfire exclaimed clapping.

"Wait," said Cyborg holding up his hands and choking with hysterical laughter. "GARFIELD?"

"Shut it, Tin man."

Raven looked at Beast Boy.

"Why are you in Africa?" she asked.

"My parents were genetic researchers and they specialized in animal genetics. They came here to study some random monkey. I spent most of my life in India and Morocco and Africa and China and stuff."

"Oh."

Marie took the pan off the flame and threw some sand from the floor onto it to put it out. She then took a dagger and three sharp sticks out of a satchel on the ground next to her and placed them on the floor. She then cut the steak carefully into three tiny pieces. She speared each one with a stick then handed them out to Garfield and her husband.

"Breakfast."

"Huh. No wonder you're so skinny," said Cyborg.

They each finished their piece of steak in one mouthful.

"So what are the plans for today Marie?" Mark asked, cheerfully munching on his steak.

"I'm going to take Garfield to find the monkeys then we can take a blood sample from one of them and test the deoxyribonucleic acid structure."

"Sounds great. I'll come with you."

And with that, he picked her up, bridal style, and ran out the door, Garfield trailing after them.

The Titans followed them into the singing jungle.

"Put me DOWN Mark!" Marie laughed.

"As you wish milady." He placed her gently on the springy floor and kissed her on the lips. Garfield made a gagging gesture behind them.

"C'mon then," said Marie, flustered.

Marie and Mark walked hand in hand through the canopy of trees, Garfield still quite a distance behind them.

"Whoa!" he cried as he tripped over a chunky root of a tree. He gingerly picked himself up and looked down to see bleeding grazed knees. Garfield sat on the root and pulled a couple of tissues out of his shorts pocket. He dabbed the tissues on his wound and walked off again.

The Titans followed this little boy's progress through the forest with slight awe.

Garfield noticed that his parents were nowhere to be seen. Panic crossed his face.

"Mom? Dad?" he called feebly. He tripped again. He fell over. As he lifted his head he came face to face with a growing monkey. Its eyes were deranged. It's mouth foamed. It chattered, tilting its head.

"Uh… Guys? I'm gunner sit up that tree for a bit ok?" Beast Boy said from behind them. With amazing agility, he leapt up into the tree and hid in the foliage with his comic book.

Garfield stared at the monkey with curiosity. He reached out to pet it.

The monkey screamed at him and he scrambled backward with shock.

The monkey tilted its small head again and jumped toward Garfield. Garfield cautiously stood up.

Suddenly the monkey jumped onto his face and Garfield let out a strangled scream. The monkey bit hard onto his shoulder, sinking its yellow teeth into the soft flesh. Endless torrents of crimson blood flowed down Garfield's arm. The monkey jumped off and ran into the forest, squawking madly.

Garfield groaned. His face was scratched and he was losing blood fast. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted, a halo of red forming round his limp figure.

The titans were stunned to say the least.

"What is going to happen to the Friend Beast Boy?" Starfire panicked.

Beast boy dropped down beside them.

"Oh," he said. "They haven't found me yet."

The scene flashed. Surprisingly, it was exactly the same as the one before, only a couple of frogs now hopped around Garfield's unconscious body.

"Garfield?" They heard the frantic cry of Marie through the trees. She and Mark emerged. They gasped at the scene in front of them.

"GARFIELD!"

She flung herself down next to Garfield and Mark followed suit.

"He's still alive," he said, though worry was etched in his tone. "We have to get him back to the hut Marie!"

He picked Garfield up Bridal style and Garfield's eyes fluttered open as he ran through the greenery.

"Daddy my head hurts," he cried.

"I know son. I know."

The scene flashed again.

They were back in the hut room with the machinery.

Garfield lay limply on a hard slab of metal. He was whimpering pitifully.

"He's gone down with sakutia." Mark whispered, his voice wavering. Marie's hand flew to her mouth.

"But there's no cure! Oh Mark! He's going to-"

"No he is not," He said firmly. "There is hope yet. The serum."

"No. Mark, that stuff is untested and I am not going to let Garfield be the guinea pig for it!"

"Dammit Marie, he will DIE! This is our last hope! Give me a chance!"

Marie's face pulled into a pout and she broke down in tears. "Ok," she agreed weakly.

"Pin him to the bed Marie. I'll go get the serum."

Garfield was listening with wildly worried eyes now.

"Mummy?"

"Lie down now sweetie," she told him and pushed him onto the metal bed. He started to cry. Metal cuffs shot out of the metal bed and secured his arms in place. He struggled frantically and kicked out. Two more cuffs shot out and held his legs in place.

Mark walked toward him with a grim expression on his face. He held a large needle with strange green liquid bubbling inside it. The needle glinted evilly in the merciless African sunlight.

Garfield's eyes grew wide. The titans standing behind stared transfixed. Beast Boy looked incredibly pale.

Garfield started screaming. Mark plunged the needle into his skinny arm. Garfield struggled with the cuffs, causing his ankles and wrists to bleed.

"Mark! He's hurting himself!" Marie cried. Mark ignored her and kept on pushing the serum into Garfield's bloodstream. He screamed so much that it hurt the Titans ears and stabbed at their hearts. Marie passed out.

Garfield still screamed and struggled. He passed out.

The scene flashed.

They were now all standing at he head of the metal bed. Garfield was no longer strapped to the bed. He was lying in an embryo position, muttering in his sleep. With a scream, he shot up. He was sweating heavily.

Marie and Mark stood at the foot of the bed, Marie clutching a gown around herself, Mark looking tired yet relieved.

"Glad you finally woke up boyo. You've been sleeping for nearly two days."

Garfield said nothing.

"Mark, we should show him." Marie whispered into her husband's ear. Surprisingly, Garfield actually heard this.

"sh-show me what?" Garfield stuttered. Mark looked at him and sighed. He slowly held up a mirror. Garfield screamed.

I the mirror was a small, scrawny 6-year-old boy. He had piercing green eyes. He had large, pointy ears. He was green from head to toe.

Garfield lashed out a hand and the mirror smashed on the floor.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?" he shrieked.

"Don't worry son, we love you just as much as before. It's just the effects of the serum." Mark soothed.

Garfield sobbed. He hid his face in his green hands.

"I'm a monster," he cried.

"No. You are the handsomest, most unique person on this earth. The ladies will be swarming to get a piece of you!" chuckled Mark.

"I don't want ladies," Garfield wailed, "I just want to be normal."

The scene flashed.

Garfield was hopping up and down in a boat. He looked slightly older, maybe seven or eight. They were floating down the river between the forests.

"Can I have a go with the oars now?" He whined.

'No," Marie said firmly. Since the 'accident', she seemed to have become much more protective of her dear son.

"We have to get off the boat." Beast boy said emotionlessly.

"Why? Asked Robin.

Raven flew upwards and let out a sharp gasp.

"Listen to Beast Boy. Get off the boat."

"But wh-"

"JUST GET OFF THE DAMN BOAT!"

The Titans flew upwards, Beast Boy turning into an eagle, Starfire lifting Cyborg and Robin without effort.

They landed on the river-bank and watched the progress of the little boat.

"Uh – Marie… you better come and see this." Called Mark, worry in his voice.

"What?" asked Marie nonchalantly.

She walked to the front of the boat.

"Oh God."

She turned to Garfield, who was watching his parents with a confused face. She pulled her face into a forced smile, though her eyes displayed glazing tears. "Honey, you know when you turned into a bird last week?" Garfield nodded, still suspicious. "Well now I need you to turn into a bird again. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"Just do it honey. For mummy."

"GOD DAMMIT GAR, JUST TURN INTO A FUCKING BIRD AND FLY AWAY!' Bellowed Mark. Garfield's eyes filled with tears of hurt.

Mark sighed and turned to Garfield. He placed his large rough hand on the boy's sharp shoulder and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Sorry kid but I need you to do this for me. Fly down and don't turn back. Fly back to the hut and phone Margie for me. Tell her to come over. She'll know what to do."

Garfield nodded and his father pulled him into a fierce hug. "If you're ever afraid, think of me."

Garfield bounced into the air and shifted into an eagle. He flew away like his father told him, but a nagging suspicion told him to turn back. He turned round in mid air and flew back to the river. The wind whipping his face,

He blocked out the world for a moment, just soaring down the river past the cliff face.

He landed at the bottom of the cliff face and was closely followed by the Titans.

Suddenly, he realized something.

He whipped his face round to look at the cliff face. Running down it was a cold, grey blue waterfall. At the bottom, jagged rocks jutted out from the rushing water.

Knowing what he would see, he looked back up to the top. A tiny boat tipped gently over the edge. Two screaming figures plunged out of the boat and fell into the rushing waves, disappearing under the foam.

The Titans looked on transfixed in horror.

The water swirled menacingly, slowly turning red.

"MOM! DAD!"

Garfield dived into the bloody water and disappeared for a full minute. His face emerged gasping, before he plunged down again.

The second time, he rose to the surface; he was dragging two mangled bodies up to the riverbank. They were unrecognizable. Blood coated their broken bodies. Their limbs hung limply in odd directions. Their clothes clung to their skin.

His mother and father, dead in his arms.

All the Titan's stomachs turned at the horrific sight that haunted their vision.

Starfire threw up disgustingly in the foliage.

Garfield cried out and screamed, closing his eyes. He did not want to accept it. His parents were gone.

Sniffing, he pulled his mother round so she lay on her side. He pulled his father to face his mother, leaving a small gap in the middle. Then he lay in between the two corpses and curled up into a ball. He pulled their arms over himself and shivered.

Beast Boy stood under the shade of a tree. His face was wet and his eyes were puffy. He turned his face away from the team. "I'm fine." He said thickly.

"No. You are not." Raven countered sympathetically. "But at least your parents loved you."

"Thanks Rae." For once, Raven didn't mention the fact that he did not say her full name. Instead, she pulled him into a large bear hug. Beast boy stood ridged with shock at the gesture.

"I wish to join the hugging as well!" Starfire cried brightly, wiping her mouth. She threw her arms round the couple.

"Aw well," Cyborg said joining the hug fest. "C'mon bird boy!"

"I'd rather not." Robin said firmly but Cyborg picked him up and put him between himself and Starfire where he stood stiff as a board.

"Perhaps you should practice respecting others wishes Cyborg." Raven suggested monotonously.

"Naw, I just think that Robin needs to stop being so uptight once in a while." Cyborg guffawed. "Maybe it's his ridiculous tights."

Robin tried to throw a punch at him but could not move his arm. He settled for spewing curses at his cybernetic 'friend' while Cyborg snickered spitefully.

The scene around them flashed again.

**Wow. This chapter is long. The catchphrase seems to be 'the scene flashed' but whatever. Hope you liked it though.**


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